1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an assembly and method for passing an electric current through a heat-recoverable article.
2. Introduction to the Invention
Heat recoverable articles, in particular, those that comprise one or more members of a conductive polymer i.e. an organic polymer having sufficient finely divided electrically conductive material disposed therein to render it electrically conductive, are well known. They may be used to provide sealing, insulating or protective coatings on substrates, for example, electrical joints and terminations. Reference may be made, for example, to U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,027,962, 3,086,142, and 3,770,556, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Heat recoverable articles are typically recovered towards an original configuration by means of a torch or hot air gun, but this has serious disadvantages in many situations. It has, therefore, been proposed (see British Pat. No. 1,265,194 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,582) to make heat recoverable articles out of conductive polymers and to cause recovery of the article by passing an electric current through the conductive polymer, thus raising the temperature of the article to the recovery temperature, the current being supplied to the ends or intermediate points of the article by any suitable method, using for example alligator clips or other conventional clamps or electrodes.